The Sturdy Memorial Hospital ARC ARES Team conducted a simulated emergency exercise March 12 in conjunction with the Norton Emergency Management Agency. Norton EMA and Norton’s CERT Team decided to continue with the planned exercise despite the cancellation of the Eastern MA ARES simulated emergency test that day.

In response to the simulated late winter ice storm, stations were set up at various locations, including a “base of operations” at the Norton Fire Deepartment, multiple simulated shelters and two mobile SSTV-equipped disaster assessment teams. K1VQ and W1TW operated WC1NOR at the Norton Emergency Operations Center. K2TGX acted as overall Incident Commander of the drill; N1FLO served as ARES Team Incident Commander. North Attleboro’s Fire Chief Peter Lamb, N1NVE, was on the air with SSTV video and APRS text messages from North Attleboro’s EOC. KB1DRL activated W1SMH at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro. He acted as a liaison to the hospital’s Emergency Department. N1IV and KA1IG operated the Plainville and North Attleboro EOC/RACES stations, respectively.
N1UMJ checked in from Taunton and handled simulated traffic to Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency’s Region 2 Headquarters. KA1EWN operated as Disaster Assessment Mobile 1 and N1SEC operated as Disaster Assessment Mobile 2. Both sent SSTV pictures back to Norton’s EOC. N1MPT set up a mock shelter at Norton Middle School and handled head count traffic as well as mutual aid requests for shelter support.

The exercise, which lasted for approximately 80 minutes, was cut short when the National Weather Service issued a genuine winter storm warning.

Hello to all… The following is the 2019 NWS Boston/Norton SKYWARN Training Class Schedule for the spring season. Please distribute widely to anyone interested in becoming a SKYWARN Spotter! Additional SKYWARN Training classes are in planning. This includes a class in the Rowe/Charlemont, Mass area, Granby/Hartland, CT area, Western Hampshire County Massachusetts, Eastern Franklin County […]

Hello to all… ..Storm system to bring a wintry mix to portions of Southern New England Sunday Morning into Sunday Early Afternoon.. ..A Winter Weather Advisory is now in effect from 5 AM to 2 PM Sunday for Northern Connecticut, Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden, Worcester and Northern Middlesex Counties of Massachusetts and Northwest Providence County Rhode […]

Hello to all… ..Moderate to Major Snowstorm to affect Southern New England tonight through Monday Morning. Latest Models have increased snowfall amounts for much of the area but there does remain uncertainty in the Southeast coastal areas where sleet and/or rain could hold down amounts. If higher snow amounts are realized in interior central and […]

Hello to all… ..One storm departs the region and another storm will affect the region with a more significant snowfall except for portions of Southeast New England which will see snow to ice to rain.. ..A Winter Storm Watch is in effect from Sunday Evening through Monday Morning for Northern Connecticut, North-Central Rhode Island and […]

Hello to all… ..Coastal storm system to bring heavy accumulating wet snow storm to portions of Southern New England late tonight into early Saturday Evening. Confidence in storm solution lower than normal at this time range due to varying model solutions.. ..A Winter Storm Warning is now in effect from 1 AM to 7 PM […]

Hello to all… ..Plowable snowfall expected starting late Wednesday Afternoon into early Thursday Morning in Southern New England and now looks to affect all of Southern New England.. ..A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect from 5 PM Wednesday Evening to 7 AM Thursday Morning for Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden Counties of Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut […]

Hello to all… ..Bitter cold wind chills in Western Massachusetts will occur tonight followed by plowable snowfall expected Wednesday Night into Thursday Morning in Southern New England particularly in Western Massachusetts and then along and south of the Mass Pike.. ..A Wind Chill Advisory is in effect from Midnight to 8 AM Wednesday for Franklin, […]

Hello to all… ..Strong Winds will occur over the course of the day today but not to the strength we had around the region on Monday. These winds, however, may slow power restoration efforts for those that have lost power.. ..A Wind Advisory is in effect through 5 PM Tuesday Afternoon for the entire NWS […]